METRO DETROIT — There’s no place like home for the holidays — with family gatherings, stories of yesteryear and delicious meals. But for some, it’s another day at the office, whether that office is in a squad car, inside an emergency room or behind a snowplow.

METRO DETROIT — During Christmastime, Birmingham resident Rita Dunker, 63, doesn’t have to look far to find what takes her back to her childhood growing up in post-war Germany in the small country town of Weseke. Dunker frequents the annual Birmingham Winter Markt, described as a European-themed wonderland in Shain Park in Birmingham.